Dressage saddles for ponies

[zoon]

I am considering buying a little welsh C, but would like a dressage saddle for him - do nice dressage saddles exist in 17" and under (think he takes a 16")? All I can find are straight cut show saddles???

 

[cremedemonthe]

Yes, some manufacturers go down to 15.5 inches

 

[maree t]

Hi, we bought a nice 16.5 inch shires leather dressage saddle second hand on ebay for my daughters pony recently. It is a nice reasonable saddle

 

[dumpling]

I've used a 16" Wintec dressage on my boy.

 

[sbloom]

Some big makers like Bates have pony dressage saddles but....watch out for big deep panels - ponies need a flat tree (relatively speaking, even if they have a wither) and a semi close contact fit - which means a fairly thin and flat panel. If the saddle is perched it will never be truly stable.

You are right that there aren't MANY around, at Native Pony we have two models that work with ponies one of which comes in 15 and 16. Many of the flatter trees like the H&C by Ideal only come in 16.5 upwards. However in a short panel design you should be able to get a 16.5 on most Section Cs - I've had 17s on several.

 

[zoon]

I'd want a saddle with knee blocks and a deep seat - most of the pony dressage saddles have shorter flaps for kids with a flatter seat and no blocks!

 

[SmartieBean09]

I had to have a saddle company dressage saddle made for Jamin as anything else smothered her.

 

[smiffyimp]

Martin Wilkinson designed one called a cygnet - especially for ponies/small horses. Its made by Ideal, but can only be purchased via Martin

 

[sbloom]

I'd want a saddle with knee blocks and a deep seat - most of the pony dressage saddles have shorter flaps for kids with a flatter seat and no blocks!

Any bench made saddle can be ordered with longer flaps. We could, as could other makers, also put the larger style flap on the pony tree. And speaking as someone who fits probably 75% ponies, there are not many deep seat saddles that will sit on them - even if they look like they have a scoopy back they need to be fitted flat as they lift their backs in work, especially Welshies. Our deep seat tree does have flat rails and will work for SOME flattish horses/ponies but by no means all - that is just how it is. I could find out if it comes in a 16". If he could take a 16.5 it would make life easier. Flat backs need flatter trees which is why you're seeing flat seats.

Also there are show saddles and show saddles - in a 16.5 we have a deeper seated WH with bigger blocks and are currently working on our first true pony WH for a few years. Again, you can easily specify a bigger block on a bench made saddle.